Revs Trade for Bees’ Chaves, Rivers

After seeing two position players signed by major league organizations this week, the York Revolution have acquired shortstop Brandon Chaves and outfielder/first baseman Kevin Rivers from the New Britain Bees in exchange for future considerations. Revs manager Mark Mason confirmed the trade late Wednesday night. Both players are expected to join the team in time for Thursday night’s game in Southern Maryland.

Chaves, 36, returns to York after suiting up in 38 games for the Bees. He hit .212 with two doubles, one home run, and 14 RBIs over 132 at-bats. In 10 first-half games against the Revolution, Chaves batted .286 and drove in five runs.

An Atlantic League stalwart, Chaves entered the league with Bridgeport in 2010 and has played for five league franchises since. He opened the 2014 season with the Revs, appearing in 22 games before moving on to Camden in July. Through six seasons in the league, Chaves has hit 16 home runs, driven in 147 runs, and stolen 42 bases.

Originally from Hawaii, Chaves was drafted by Pittsburgh in the 10th round of the 2000 MLB Draft, playing in 956 minor league games and reaching Triple-A Durham in the Tampa Bay system in 2009.

Rivers, 27, hit .246 with seven doubles, a home run, and seven RBIs in 39 games for New Britain. He faced the Revs eight times in the first half, batting .269 with two doubles and six runs.

Another veteran of the Atlantic League, Rivers played 102 games for Lancaster in 2015. He tied fifth in the league with 15 home runs and plated 48 runs while batting .251 while leading the Barnstormers into the postseason.

Rivers began his pro career in the Seattle Mariners organization in 2009, making it to Double-A Jackson in 2014. His best season came with the Advanced-A High Desert Mavericks in 2013 when he hit .297 with 20 home runs and 97 RBIs.

The moves come in the midst of a busy week for the Revolution roster. On Tuesday, the Atlanta Braves signed catcher Isaias Tejeda and assigned him to Advanced-A Carolina. The next day, the Chicago White Sox came calling for first baseman Telvin Nash, who has been assigned to Advanced-A Winston-Salem. The Revs were down to 11 position players before Mason made the trade with New Britain.

Chaves and Rivers arrive in the nick of time for the first-place Revolution, who lead the Freedom Division by a season-high four games over second-place Sugar Land and four-and-a-half games over Lancaster with 11 to go in the first half of the season. With the magic number down to eight, the Revs open up an eight-game road trip with the first of four at Southern Maryland on Thursday night.